Saturday, February 25, 2006

Walter Cronkite sullied by an earthworm I posted an excellent letter from Walter Cronkite that meant a lot to me, and several of you expressed similar feelings. After all, who could object to the common sense expressions of one of the top journalists of our time? Wait for it... Yesterday, on Bill O'Reilly's show: O'REILLY: Time now for "The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day." You know, I admire Walter Cronkite. The man's nearly 90 years old, still kicking. But there is no question that the former newscaster is a far left guy. Since his retirement from CBS News, he has embraced all kinds of progressive causes. Here's the latest. Mr. Cronkite now trying to raise money for the Drug Policy Alliance, a drug legalization outfit that's partially funded by our pal, George Soros. Cronkite actually signed a fundraising that said in part, "We have locked up literally millions of people of color who have caused little or no harm to others." The people Cronkite is talking about are street drug dealers who sell heroin, crack, and meth, among other dangerous drugs. Apparently Walter Cronkite doesn't feel this is harmful. That view, with all due respect, is insane. Memo to Walter. Hard drug dealers hurt and sometimes kill people, sir. It is ridiculous you do not understand that. Mr. Cronkite is welcome to debate me on the issue any time. O'Reilly wouldn't last five minutes in a real drug war debate (one where he wasn't able to turn off his opponent's mic). Then again, O'Reilly has one advantage. He makes up his "facts." From claiming that terrorists in Afghanistan are a source of Ecstasy to claiming that the reason that Holland has lower rates of marijuana use than the U.S. is due to Holland's lower population. (Link). And, of course, the attack on Christmas was done as part of a well-funded fringe effort to legalize drugs. 10:33:30 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

Police unsuccessfully attempt to turn man into bong Via TalkLeft. It seems the police set a guy's head on fire in an effort to get him to spit out marijuana he was trying to swallow. A man whose head caught fire when police simultaneously zapped him with pepper spray and a Taser gun during his arrest last summer faces prison time after being sentenced on a drug charge in the same incident. The judge sentenced the flambéed man to 14 months and 12 days in prison. 6:15:48 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

Walters' turns facts upside down Our Drug Czar is known for asserting the complete opposite of the truth (like when he blamed drug users for damaging the environment in Colombia, while calling for increased spraying of toxic chemicals). Here, he does it again when referring to drug use. "It breaks up families; it destroys learning, memory, retention, self-discipline; it is a catalyst to crime, crime at a very young age; self-destruction, other destruction; child abuse and endangerment," he said. "And it also is, in terms of its revenue, it takes millions of dollars out of affected communities." [emphasis added] Millions of dollars out of affected communities? Is he referring to the voluntary purchase of a product by a buyer from a seller where a large portion of the money ends up outside of the community? Then you might as well blame car dealerships. But if we really want to talk about the loss of millions of dollars out of affected communities, let's talk about the millions in tax dollars that we pay Walters to fly around and give inane speeches. Let's talk about the billions we spend on prisons and the drug war infrastructure. Let's talk about the loss of tax revenue from keeping drugs illegal. 4:52:15 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []